يعاودني من خيف ريم النقاطيف

يعاودني من خيف ريم النقاطيف

وما الطيف بالمغنى وقد بعد الخيف

وما الطيف بالمغنى وقد بعد الخيف

An apparition revisits me from the hillside of the dune's gazelle.

The shadows of past dreams recur to me,

Yet the apparition is not at the dwelling, and the hillside has grown distant.

Though the phantom itself is far, dreams still gleam.

يمر علي الصيف يلحقه الشتا

يمر علي الصيف يلحقه الشتا

يبعدي ويضنيني شتائي والصيف

يبعدي ويضنيني شتائي والصيف

Summer passes over me, followed by winter.

Summer passes, followed fast by winter's chill,

My winter and summer estrange me and wear me down.

Both my winter and summer cause me pain and grief.

كأني ضيف بين اهلي واسرتي

كأني ضيف بين اهلي واسرتي

ولبس كاهل الحي في طوره الضيف

ولبس كاهل الحي في طوره الضيف

I am like a guest among my own people and family.

I'm like a guest among kith, kin and home,

And a guest, in his condition, is unlike the people of the settlement.

A stranger wearing welcome's garb so brief.

اعلل مسلوب الفؤاد ليشتفي

اعلل مسلوب الفؤاد ليشتفي

بطيف واسع القلب لم يشفه الطيف

بطيف واسع القلب لم يشفه الطيف

I console one robbed of his heart, so that he may recover,

My broken heart still seeks to mend its wounds

With an apparition of the broad-hearted one; the apparition has not healed him.

With the healing breath of one whose heart runs deep.

كما عالج المجروح بالفكر جرحه

كما عالج المجروح بالفكر جرحه

وهل نبرء الافكار ما جرح السيف

وهل نبرء الافكار ما جرح السيف

As a wounded man treats his wound with thought.

Just as thoughts may cure the wounds that blades have wrought,

And can thoughts heal what the sword has wounded?

Can thoughts heal the hurts by swords so fiercely cleft?